Jump to content

Can Columbia Gain National Exposure


803metlife

Recommended Posts

It's not that I hate chains (I shop at chain stores myself), it's just that everyone has them. Locally-owned stores provide a flair that provides uniqueness. Everyone visits Charleston because it's different in the first place, so why have a bunch of stores downtown, in the tourist district, that tourists can shop at whenever they get back to their cities of residence? I'm not saying totally eliminate all chains, but use some moderation; have a healthy balance.

Not to mention the economic aspects of chains vs. locally-owned stores.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 163
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Maybe one day I'll understand why you guys hate chains so much.......other than Pizza chains......I think clothing chains and alot of others ones are worth shopping from......

I can agree, everyone's not from the big cities. I use to love it when i was young and out of town, i could always find things that wasn't coming to s.c. So that's a plus for charleston's shopping district it's the best in s.c. hands down. But it all depends what your looking for. I don't won't to sound like a label groupie but when i go to the Chuck we usually stop by Banna Republic, Abercromie , and Gucci store. People look for the brand name items, that their city doesn't have, especially females!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As was stated on another thread here, I think using Columbia's nationally known artist such as Angie Stone, or Hootie would be a great way to catalyze regional exposure and give the city a flair for a music scene. If these mucisians opened a venue or two in the area I think it would definately bring people to Columbia to see them and they should highlight other local or regional underground talent! I mean how many cities Columbia's size has that going for them. Hell even Jermaine O'neal should open a dance club in the vista! Think about what type of influence that would have regionally! I'm sure people would visit Columbia jsut to see what's going on! This city has soo much potential it's scary!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce lists the city's 2005 population at 632,760 and Mecklenburg County's population at 829,978. But keep in mind that Charlotte covers an area of 268 sq miles, which is pretty large.

Not to get off point krazee I am wondering if you have the square mileage of all the major carolina cities. 268 is a quite large. I prefer a compact city but hey I am no urban planner...however it must be frustrating commuting across a city that large. That is why I will always chose to live near or in the urban core of a city. Here in Vegas the sprawl is getting so far that developers are trying to open up land near Red Rock national park. Which is about 15 miles from "Downtown". That doesn't sound bad but consider how this place is booming housing wise and it is getting out of hand. I-15 is a parking lot most days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Asheville: 42.5

Charleston: 103

Charlotte: 268

Columbia: 125.2

Durham: 95

Fayetteville: 59

Greensboro: 105

Greenville: 26

Myrtle Beach: 22.3

Raleigh: 114.6

Spartanburg: 19

Wilmington: 41

I tried to get the most recent data available for each city from either its municipal website or fedstats.gov.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The census is officially taken every 10 years, so the next one will be out in 2010. However, the census bureau does produce annual estimates.

Gosh, I am ITCHING to see the next urbanized area figures!

Well, in 5 more years we'll see what the real numbers are!! Whose producing and who's not :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not that I hate chains (I shop at chain stores myself), it's just that everyone has them. Locally-owned stores provide a flair that provides uniqueness. Everyone visits Charleston because it's different in the first place, so why have a bunch of stores downtown, in the tourist district, that tourists can shop at whenever they get back to their cities of residence? I'm not saying totally eliminate all chains, but use some moderation; have a healthy balance.

Not to mention the economic aspects of chains vs. locally-owned stores.

Charleston's downtown feels more urban to me. I think that it feels like a more compact and old-school kind of urbanity though. Columbia has a large urban core without question, but it is more like the other modern cities that America has.

After spending some time in Charleston, you begin to see that there are not as many chains as you think (not that they aren't there and very prominent). Charleston has alot of businesses that are local or that are very specialized. Putumayo and Waterworks on upper King St are examples of two companies that relocated their only stores to Charleston from New York. That can't hapen just anywhere. Most of the restaurants you see downtown are not chains. I find that as you get away from Charleston Place you find less chain stores. The chain stores that are there tend to be your female clothiers and shoe stores. Yes there are quite a few restaurants, but the local options (or small chains within SC) by far outnumber the chain places. There are also quite a few office buildings downtown, but you can't always recognize them becuase they blend in with the rest of the buildings ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Asheville: 42.5

Charleston: 103

Charlotte: 268

Columbia: 125.2

Durham: 95

Fayetteville: 59

Greensboro: 105

Greenville: 26

Myrtle Beach: 22.3

Raleigh: 114.6

Spartanburg: 19

Wilmington: 41

I tried to get the most recent data available for each city from either its municipal website or fedstats.gov.

See guys Greensboro isn't that much of an annexation hog... :thumbsup:

I know that Greenville number bothers a lot of people!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

As far as Columbia gaining more national recognition: I have lived in California for over 32 years, and I have noticed more lately that when I say I grew up iin "Columbia", now I often get no flinch in a response. People seem to know that I mean Columbia, SC and often I get a comment on how it is a nice city. The most common negative I get is about the Confederate flag. I know this is a very subjective "poll" I have taken by just mentioning where I am from, but back in the 80's, almost no one knew what city I was talking about and somehow, many more people know that Columbia means Columbia, SC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as Columbia gaining more national recognition: I have lived in California for over 32 years, and I have noticed more lately that when I say I grew up iin "Columbia", now I often get no flinch in a response. People seem to know that I mean Columbia, SC and often I get a comment on how it is a nice city. The most common negative I get is about the Confederate flag. I know this is a very subjective "poll" I have taken by just mentioning where I am from, but back in the 80's, almost no one knew what city I was talking about and somehow, many more people know that Columbia means Columbia, SC.

That's interesting. I wish I had that experience... My company is based in San Francisco and Los Angeles and I still get a lot of people being jackasses about it. Many of them also say,"You're in Greenville, right?" or they think I'm in "North Carolina."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it also has to do with the fact that the name "Columbia" is known in other states as well; Maryland, Missouri, even NC has a small town named columbia...and a few others too....which is why people dont really think of Columbia as Columbia, SC....if it were a name like Cincinnati which everyone pretty much can match it up with OH, or Tallahassee which is obvious to FL it would be easier for people to remember which state it is in.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Right. And don't forget about other notable things named "Columbia," including the District of Columbia, the Columbia space shuttle, British Columbia, the Columbia River, Columbia University, and even the South American nation Colombia (although spelled differently).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, the name isn't that unique to just identify it with SC...If someone said I'm from Columbus...I wouldn't just think of Georgia...It could be Ohio too so I would have to ask which one...Seattle, Orlando, Charlotte, Miami, Raleigh, Sacremento and so on don't have 6 or more other cities with their names.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in Florida, almost none of my friends and co-workers (except those that travel to SC regularly) knew where Columbia was or even heard of it. Does SC have even one major city? What has government done to retard growth so much? I think all states on the Eastern seaboard have a major city. I have not yet been to Greenville or Spartanburg, but they don't appear much larger on the map.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back in Florida, almost none of my friends and co-workers (except those that travel to SC regularly) knew where Columbia was or even heard of it. Does SC have even one major city? What has government done to retard growth so much? I think all states on the Eastern seaboard have a major city. I have not yet been to Greenville or Spartanburg, but they don't appear much larger on the map.

Greenville and Spartanburg are smaller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just have medium sized cities here.....the closest Major city is Charlotte which is on the border of NC and SC.....if we didnt have so many medium sized cities and had maybe 2 or 3 they probably wouldve been bigger.....

and even charlotte is a midsized city. so nc or sc doesn't have a major city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now see I always thought of Charlotte as a large mid-sized city too, like Nashville, Louisville, or Richmond. I never thought of it in the same league as Atlanta, Houston, or Miami or such.

Anyway, appearantly there was a time when Columbia could have been named Washington I believe? Maybe people could associate Washington, SC better. That's it the city should change its name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.